A Host of Daffodils

Every month has a specific flower assigned to it – it’s ‘birth month flower’. 

Many flowers start to bloom in the early spring, but one of the most symbolic for this season is the daffodil – the flower for the month of March. 

Everyone who knows me knows I go for a walk every single day, no matter if it’s the hottest day of summer or the coldest day of winter. As I walk through the neighbourhood, I love to watch the seasons change. One of the first hints that spring is on the way is when the daffodils start popping up they’re like little rays of hope reminding us that warmer, lighter days are ahead. Nobody has captured this annual sighting of daffodils better than William Wordsworth when he said:

“I wandered lonely as a cloud. 
That floats on high o’ver vales and hills, 
When all at once I saw a crowd, 
A host of golden daffodils”

When my Mum was growing up in England, the village children worked in the daffodil fields during spring break. They started with picking the flowers, and then moved on to bundling them. This involved wrapping an elastic band around 12 stems of daffodils. My Mum remembers the elastics cutting into their hands and how all the sap from the stems would run into the open wounds stinging like crazy. I cringe at the thought of it, but in true British fashion, my Mum just says ‘We soon toughened up.’

Daffodil bulbs are planted in the autumn. Because of their ability to survive harsh winter conditions, and then bloom brightly in the spring, they represent hope and new beginnings. The Canadian Cancer Society has taken that sentiment to heart and uses the daffodil as their symbol to represent the difficulties that those affected by cancer experience, and the courage that carries them through.

Daffodils really are best when they are locally in season, but the season is short, so keep your eyes open for them and treat yourself (and others) to these springtime delights while you can.

To note: You may have heard that you can’t mix daffodils with other flowers because of the toxic sap they have being harmful to other plants. While this is true, if you soak the daffodils for 24 hours first, you can then add other varieties of flowers into the vase. (Just don’t re-cut the daffodil stems as this will re-release the toxins.)

Introducing the Language of Flowers

It’s well-known that a red rose symbolizes love, but what’s not as well-known is that most flowers have a special meaning attached to them. Using flowers and their meanings to create and send messages has been practiced for thousands of years and across all cultures. This is the language of flowers. 

While the popularity of the language of flowers hit a high point during the Victorian era, today it’s existence has almost been forgotten. I first learned of it from a novel I read by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, aptly named, The Language of Flowers. Within the first few pages I was captivated by the way you could make a bouquet of flowers have a special meaning, purely from your choice of flowers. However, I quickly realized why the popularity of this “language” has fallen out of favour; intriguing and exciting as it is, the intricacies of the language make it difficult to use. It turns out every flower can have more than one meaning, and sometimes those meanings are total opposites of each other! Take a sunflower, for example. It can mean ‘adoration’, because of the way it turns its face towards the sun. But it can also mean ‘haughtiness’, because it can look like it’s turning its nose up at something. 

Despite these complications, I think now is a perfect time in history to start using this means of communication again. Today we live in a time when people are intrigued with the past, yet also a time of technology and social media. So while we value ancestry and all things vintage, we are also made very aware of what the latest trends are, and then we seem to want what everyone else has. Using the symbolism in the language of flowers is a great way to connect the past with the present. For example, you can take inspiration from an image of a flower bouquet on Instagram, and then make it unique by using flowers that give it a personal message. 

 In modernizing this language, we can make it popular again. In upcoming posts I will share with you ideas of how to take the complications away from the meanings, and then how to incorporate them into your flower use so you can create personalized and meaningful flower arrangements for your friends, your family and yourself to enjoy.

Time for a Flower-filled Vacation

Provence, Holland, Japan, California, Oman, the Azores, England, the Swiss Alps – what do these places have in common? They all have a spectacular floral landscape. Provence has their lavender, Holland their tulips, Japan their cherry blossoms, Oman their roses, California their poppies, the Azores their hydrangeas, England their bluebells and the Swiss Alps their wild flowers. 

When planning a vacation we normally think of which tropical beach, vibrant city, or snow-covered mountain we’ll go to. Having ‘flowers’ as the focus of your travels isn’t something many people have thought of. Let me introduce you to ‘Floral Tourism’ – planning your vacation destination based on the floral seasons. 

You may be wondering why you would make flowers the focus of your trip, but consider these three reasons:

 1 – When you’re visiting one of these flower-filled locations, you still experience the culture, people, food and language like any other holiday destination, but you’ve added another layer to your experience by treating your senses to local, seasonal flowers blooming en masse;

 2 – Holidays are meant to be relaxing, but they can also be stressful. It’s scientifically proven that flowers decrease anxiety, so imagine the positive impact on your vacation when surrounded by fresh, gorgeous flowers;

 3 – Flowers, with their vibrant colours and sweet fragrance create a warmth and beauty to the moment. The strong impressions they make will strengthen the memories of your vacation.

The place I’ve always said is the top of my list to visit is Provence. All that lavender would be heavenly and so relaxing! My goal is to get there within the next five years. But I’ve added another top destination to the list, and that’s England. I’ve been to England many times, but never when the bluebells are in bloom, and that is what I really want to see. I can just image a woodland scene carpeted in a sea of bright blue.

When traveling to see flowers in bloom there are several things you need to know to guarantee a successful trip. Most important (of course) is knowing when the flowers are in bloom. But you also want to plan where you will stay, what mode of transportation you will use when you’re there, appropriate clothing, and any special rules or regulations when you’re with the flowers.

In upcoming posts, I’ll focus on each travel destination giving you the specific information you need to visit that place. Let’s all take our vacations up a notch by visiting these spectacular floral utopias.

My Top Tips for Flower Care

Having flowers around the house on a regular basis creates a positive environment for our mental, physical, and emotional health. The good news is, it doesn’t require a tremendous amount of effort to incorporate this healthy habit into our lives. Once we have flowers, we want them to look as beautiful as possible for as long as possible. Here are my top tips for things we can do to assure we get the longest vase-life possible for our fresh flowers.

• Make sure your vase is clean: Any bacteria in your vase will shorten the life of the flowers. If I’m washing my vases by hand, I add a drop of bleach and then rinse well with hot water, but more often than not, I just run them through a cycle in the dish washer and they’re good to go;

• Use fresh clean water:  This is so important!  Always have clean water in your vase. I change mine every second day. It only takes a minute, but it makes a huge difference;

• Cut the stems of the flowers: When you first put your flowers in the vase, and every time you change the water after that, cut the stems at an angle. This will help them absorb water. (No smashing or piercing the stems, as this has the opposite effect - preventing water absorption.);

• Find the right spot for them: Here is where not to place your flowers: in direct sunlight, in a draft, near a heating or cooling vent (causes dehydration), or near any fresh fruit. Fruit is the enemy of flowers as the ethylene gas they emit is detrimental to  them.

• Down-size your arrangement: No matter if you have a big mixed bouquet, or a small bunch of all the same type of flower, each stem does not last the same amount of time as all the others. To keep your arrangement looking fresh and healthy, remove each bloom when it fades. As you get fewer and fewer stems, move the remaining flowers into smaller vases. My Mum is the queen of down-sizing a flower arrangement and keeps this process going until all that is left is one bloom in a bud vase!

• Flower food: Those little packets of flower food that come with your bouquet – should you use them or not? Flower food is good for nourishing the flowers, keeping bacteria at bay and encouraging buds to open. BUT this only works if you follow the directions correctly. I’m quite certain that not many of us read the tiny little print on the back of the pack and then measure the correct amount of water to mix with the correct amount of food. Improperly mixed food can do more harm to the flowers than good. Personally I never use the flower food. I find when I follow the other tips listed here, the flowers do just great.

These are my top tips for keeping your flowers looking their best.  While eventually they will die, while they’re here, they bring such beauty to the world it’s worth the few extra moments it takes to care for them properly.

Flowers are Not a Waste of Money - My Top 3 Reasons Why.

“Just living is not enough…one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower.” Hans Christian Anderson

Wise words from Hans Christian Anderson. Intuitively we know that flowers make us happy. Scientific research backs that up. Flowers boost our mood, brighten our environment, improve our sleep, decrease our anxiety, increase our productivity and strengthen our memory. Flowers make life happier and healthier.

Unfortunately, there are some people who think that flowers are a waste of money. The reason why? They think because flowers die, you shouldn’t spend your hard earned money on them. If you think about that, that reasoning doesn’t really make sense. You’ll spend money on a movie, but that experience is over in about two hours. You’ll pay to go out to dinner at a restaurant - again, over in a couple hours. You’ll pay for a bottle of wine, that you’ll drink, and a box of chocolates that you’ll eat, but neither of those last for long. I could go on and on with examples of how we spend money on things that don’t last. But instead, here are my top three reasons for why I think we should have flowers in our lives, and why they’re worth every penny we spend on them:

1 - Flowers spread joy: Flowers are instantly mood-boosting, brightening the day of whoever sees them. When I delivered flowers for my floral business, not one person receiving them ever responded with a frown. The added bonus is, giving flowers not only boosts the mood of the one receiving the flowers, but also the one giving them. So right there you’re doubling the value of your money. And the great thing is, this works just as well with a massive bouquet as it does with just a few stems, so you don’t have to spend big money to feel the positive benefits. 

2 - Flowers are suitable for every occasion: No need to waste time wondering what to get for a birthday or anniversary gift, or to thank someone for helping you out, or to congratulate someone for a job well done, or to send your condolences – flowers work for all these occasions. You don’t even have to think about it, flowers suit the occasion. Knowing this saves you time - and time is money, they say! So once again, your money is well spent.

3 – Flowers create lasting memories: Research shows that flowers, with their vibrant colours and fragrant scents, have the ability to recall memories more than other objects. In fact they have such an impact, they create a ‘memory picture’ of the day that is called upon again and again. So you give flowers one day – creating warm, happy feelings – and this moment is relived over and over, for years to come. So…pay for one gift, and that gift is enjoyed multiple times. That’s well worth your money.

If you’re one of the people who think that flowers are a waste of your hard-earned dollars, I hope you’ll now reconsider. Make someone’s day (and your own), better and brighter with the gift of flowers.

Up next on ‘The Floral Prescription’ - all the tips and tricks you need to give flowers the longest vase-life possible.

Falling in Love with Violets

Every month has a “birth month flower” associated with it. 

February is dominated by one day - Valentine’s Day. And what flower do you automatically think of when you think of Valentine’s Day? The red rose. So naturally you would assume that the flower for the month of February is the red rose; but you would be wrong. The flower for the month of February is the very dainty, pretty, and unassuming violet.

The more I learn about violets, the more I love them. Their delicate beauty and vibrant hues catch your eye, and then capture your heart.

Violets have a delicate sweet scent that has long been used in making perfume. Once popular (it was a favourite of Queen Victoria), over time it came to be thought of as an old-fashioned fragrance. But these days, fragrance houses are finding ways to modernize violet by mixing it with other scents. I’m very much looking forward to going to Jo Malone’s in London and trying their Violet and Amber creation.

Violets are very rare to find as a cut flower. In 2018, there was only one remaining commercial violet farm in the US. If we want to have violets in our homes, we need to be satisfied with the African violet house plant. This plant is very popular, widely available, easy to care for, and makes a lovely gift for just about any occasion. Here are some suggestions:

• Since the violet is the flower for February, it’s a great gift for someone with a February birthday;

• Violets are one of the two official flowers to celebrate a 50th wedding anniversary;

• Violets represent faithfulness because of the way the plant faithfully blooms. You could give this plant to anyone to whom you want to say, ‘I’m always there for you’;

• Violets, with their heart-shaped leaves, also represent love, making it a great gift for Valentine’s Day;

• And finally, because of the size of the plant, they make the perfect gift for someone in a hospital or care facility, someone living in a dorm or other small space, or for someone to put on their desk at work.

While I’m not much of a “plant person”, I do want to have these cheery little flowers in my home, so I’m off to the store to buy one - or maybe two - of these delightful bundles of blooms.

Fake Flowers vs Real - Same benefits???

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Having flowers in an interior space can make it feel more welcoming and have positive benefits on our mental, physical and emotional well-being. This has been scientifically proven. What I’m asked many times is, ‘Will fake flowers have the same benefits as real flowers?’. The short answer is no. And here’s why….

The fake flowers made nowadays can look very authentic. High quality materials are used, and they’re so botanically correct, that sometimes it’s hard to believe they aren’t real. They can ‘look’ the part, but that’s all. The reason they don’t have the same impact as real flowers is because they don’t engage as many of our senses. Here’s a comparison between fake and real flowers with each of our five senses:

Sight: While fake flowers can add beauty to a room, they lack the true, vibrant colours that real flowers have. And because fake flowers can be displayed for a very long time, the look gets stale. Real flowers give a space a new look and create a new ‘pop’ for our eyes, every time they are replaced.

Smell: No competition here at all! A vase brimming with garden roses, a bunch of fresh picked lavender, a handful of sweet peas that have just bloomed - all of these fragrances in fresh flowers are heavenly, but it hasn’t yet been figured out how to make fake flowers smell as good as the real thing.

Taste: This is pretty straight forward. No one is going to eat a flower made from silk or any other man-made material. And in the culinary world it’s a big faux-pas to put anything on the plate that you can’t eat - no matter how pretty it may be. Edible flowers on the other hand, make a great addition to a multitude of sweet and savory dishes, turning what perhaps is something rather ordinary into something extraordinary.

Hearing: Fake and real are pretty even here. This is the one sense of ours not engaged by flowers. Interesting though is the fact that there’s research suggesting that flowers can' ‘hear’ the buzz of passing bees, and when that happens, they produce sweeter nectar in response to it.

Touch: Even though some fake flowers look realistic, all you need to do is touch them to confirm they aren’t. Fake flowers are very uniform, lacking the variety of textures real flowers have.

So the bottom line is, while some may think not having to replace fresh flowers every time they wilt is a dream come true, it really is worth the effort. Nothing compares to the freshness, true colour, and idyllic fragrance of the real deal.

Quick tip: To give your fresh flowers a longer vase life, make sure they have clean, clear water. I change the water for my flowers every second day.

A Vase Full of Cheer

Flowers are an easy and affordable way to add a splash of colour to your life. Every colour conveys a meaning and an emotion. We’ve already talked about how red creates energy, and orange enthusiasm. The next colour we come to as we travel along the floral rainbow is yellow.

Yellow symbolizes, joy, optimism, and cheerfulness. It’s the happiest colour on the spectrum; it’s all but impossible not to smile when you see a vase brimming with yellow flowers. My favourite yellow flower is the daffodil. I love how each spring they burst into bloom, symbolizing new beginnings. 

Yellow flowers can range in shade from light and pale, to bright and sunny. The pale shades are gentle, with a warmth and compassion that make them the perfect choice for someone going through a difficult time. The bright shades are like sunshine. Anywhere you place a vase of bright yellow blooms will automatically look fresher and create radiant warmth.

The two most popular yellow flowers are daffodils and sunflowers, but there are a multitude of others that bloom throughout the year for you to consider: roses; ranunculus; freesia; alstroemeria; forsythia; tulips; chrysanthemums; lilies; gerberas; zinnias; carnations; peonies; and dahlias.

The final thing to note about yellow flowers – they represent friendship. Why not pop out today, pick-up a bunch of yellow flowers and surprise a friend? It’s sure to put a smile on their face – as well as your own!

Five Things to Know About January's Flower

Every month has a specific flower assigned to it – it’s ‘birth month flower’. 

January can be a gloomy month. The festivities of the holiday season are over, yet the lightness of spring hasn’t arrived. Thank goodness we have flowers to boost our mood, and nothing does a better job than January’s birth month flower – the carnation.

The carnation is a very under- appreciated flower. Once a prized favourite among elite society, it seems nowadays carnations have well and truly fallen out of favour. They’ve gained a reputation for being old-fashioned, common and unrefined. I know my own memories growing up are of red, white or pink bunches of blooms, wrapped in a skimpy piece of cellophane being sold at the local corner store or gas station. But that’s not the carnation of today! The carnation is no longer a pedestrian flower and here are five reasons why it should become one of your go-to favourites:

1. Growers have been, and still are, cultivating and producing new varieties of carnations that are real show-stoppers! The new editions come in a wide spectrum of colours and hues that are vibrant and trendy;

2. With their pretty petal formation, carnations are soft and feminine and have a fragrance that is spicy and sweet, yet oh-so subtle;

3. With all the ruffled petals the carnation looks dainty, but it’s reliable, tough and long lasting. In fact it has one of the longest vase lives of any flower on the market;

4. The carnation is filled with symbolism. The symbolism is quite extensive as different colours symbolize different emotions, but overall the carnation stands for devotion. As well as being the birth flower for the month of January, it’s the flower for first anniversaries and the national flower for Monaco, Slovenia and Spain;

5. Carnations are affordable, and affordable is never a bad thing! Added bonus - they’re available all year round. 

I hope this helps you look at carnations differently, and as January is a great time for new beginnings, how about making this the year you start your love of carnations. Let me know your thoughts. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Quick Tip: If you know someone who’s birthday is in January, or someone who is celebrating their first anniversary this year, personalize their gift by incorporating carnations into it, making it that extra little bit special.

Quick Tip for a Grocery Store Bouquet

When I started The Floral Prescription, I wondered how I was going to take all the information I have about ‘all things floral’ and organize it in a cohesive way. I decided the common theme in everything I’d learned was: flowers have a positive impact on our well-being.  Flowers boost our mood, brighten our environment, improve our sleep, increase our productivity, decrease our anxiety and strengthen our memory. So that became my focus – how flowers are good for our mental, physical and emotional health. Everything I share - whether it’s about a specific flower variety, how to cook with flowers, flowers for special occasions, floral travel locations, flowers in art, music and literature, or even a floral joke – is to show you how to use flowers to make your life happier and healthier. 

One of the best things about flowers is that little effort is required to reap their benefits. When you’re out-and-about during the day, pick up a bouquet, pop it into a vase, and you’ve instantly improved your environment.

But what if the only flowers you can get are one of those classic multi-coloured grocery store bouquets. Sometimes the look of those can be a bit jarring. My tip for that is to open up the bouquet and separate the stems. Put each one in a bud vase or small glass and then place them throughout the house. While the original bouquet may not have had much visual appeal, once spread out, each bloom is a beauty! Added bonus - for the cost of just one reasonably priced bouquet, you now have a flower in every room.

In the upcoming weeks and months, I’ll be sharing more tips on how to have flowers in your home and work place in an affordable way, as well as how to care for them to get the longest vase life possible. If you have any questions or feedback, or anything specific you would like to know about, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I’ll get right back to you.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 

Flowers. They’re part of all the big occasions in our lives, from birth to death. We recognize the joy they bring us during celebrations, and the comfort they bring us during times of sorrow. But for some reason, when it comes to having flowers in our everyday life, they can be thought of as frivolous or a waste of money. The truth is, flowers have a positive impact on our well-being all the time and we should have them in our lives every day. That’s what ‘The Floral Prescription’, is all about, using flowers to make our lives - and the lives of those around us - happier and healthier every day of the year.

As a new year begins I thought it would be the perfect time to give you an overview of what I’ll be sharing with you in the upcoming weeks and months.

The Whys: There have been a lot of studies on the positive effect flowers have on our mental, physical and emotional well-being. Without getting too ‘sciencey’ about it, we’ll delve deeper into this research and the actual reasons why flowers are good for us.

The Practicalities: I think many people would like to have flowers in their home and workplace but believe they don’t have the money to do so.  One of my main goals for this year is to show you that flowers can be affordable. I’ll share with you all the budget-friendly ways you can have flowers in your daily life, and give you tons of tips and tricks on how to care for flowers, helping them to have a longer vase life.

Bonuses: I love how flowers play a role in all areas of life. I’ll shower you with information on edible flowers, floral scented bath and beauty products, flowers in art, music and literature, flowers for special occasions, the language of flowers, travel destinations with a floral focus, and everything and anything floral related.

And for little pops of floral inspiration throughout the week, all you need to do is follow @thefloralprescription on Instagram.

If you have anything you’d like to know about, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’d love to hear from you.

Three Flowers for Festive Cocktails

A couple of months ago I was in England. One day we decided to visit Stratford-upon-Avon (the birth place of Shakespeare), and it just happened that there was a street fair showcasing local products . One of the vendors was a gin maker, (Pinnock Gin), and one of his gins caught my eye - it was the prettiest shade of purple. It turns out it was violet-infused. Of course with my love of all-things-floral, this appealed to me; and even more so when I was told the best way to use it was to pour a shot of the gin into a fluted glass and top it off with prosecco. All I could think of how was how delightful a drink that would be. So I purchased a bottle and I can now attest to the fact that the ‘Sparkling Violet’, (my name for it) is indeed a very delightful cocktail.

Many cocktails have long included flowers in their recipes, whether as an infusion, a liqueur, or as a garnish. Three flowers that work really well in drinks are rose, lavender, and hibiscus.

Rose: The flavour from the rose comes from the scent, so make sure to choose a fragrant variety, but use your judgement as to how much. The more fragrant the flower, the stronger the flavour will be. You want to add a touch of sweetness and a just a hint of florals to your drink - you don’t want it to taste like perfume! Recently I came across a recipe for a rose petal sangria that I can’t wait to try! Rosé wine with pink rose petals - what’s not to like!

Lavender: A member of the mint family, lavender has a herbaceous quality to it, and yet it’s floral fragrance makes it unique to any other member of the mint family. Lavender can be used fresh or dried as one of the ingredients in your drink , or use as a garnish to give your cocktail a dreamy, relaxing feeling. If you want to get some recipes for cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks using lavender, take a look at Yummerly’s website for great ideas.

Hibiscus: It’s well known that a hibiscus flower is a big beautiful bloom found in tropical locations. Less well known is the fact that it’s a very edible flower. In fact you can go to many local grocery stores and buy a jar of hibiscus flowers in syrup. You just place one of the blooms and about a tablespoon of the syrup in the bottom of a fluted glass. Top it off with sparkling wine and ‘voila’ - the perfect cocktail for the holiday season.

There are many other flowers that work well in beverages, but these three are a great place to start. A word of caution - be very sure that the flowers you are using haven’t been grown with any chemicals or pesticides or next to a roadside where they’ve been exposed to exhaust fumes. Once you’ve confirmed your flowers are safe and edible, try out some tried and true recipes and then have some fun creating your own. Cheers!